Report finds firing of ex-LAPD officer justified

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles Police Department review has upheld the firing of Christopher Dorner, the rogue ex-officer who killed four people during a February rampage that ended with his death.

Police officials released the report Friday as part of next week's agenda for the Los Angeles Police Commission meeting.

The review, conducted by Gerry Chaleff, the department's special assistant for constitutional policing, said Dorner fabricated allegations against fellow officers and the decision to fire him was sound.

Dorner's firing "was not only appropriate, it was the only course the department could have taken based on the facts and evidence," the report said.

In an online manifesto, entitled "Last Resort," Dorner claimed he had been wronged, his reputation tarnished and he vowed to wage war on the police force.

That led police Chief Charlie Beck to order the review even as Dorner was on the run.

The report concluded that Dorner, who was hired in 2005, lied when he claimed a training officer had brutally kicked a mentally ill man during an arrest. He was fired for making a false report and a Los Angeles Superior Court judge sided with the department during a 2010 appeal.

"All of us recognize that as a department we are not perfect, nonetheless, this report shows that the discharge of Christopher Dorner was factually and legally the right decision," Beck said.

Authorities said Dorner killed four people, including two law enforcement officers, which involved a massive manhunt and ended with his apparent suicide in a mountain cabin following a gunbattle with law enforcement officers.

The findings were first reported early this month by The Associated Press.

A second report will be released later in the year that will address issues raised by Dorner and others regarding the department's disciplinary system and the state of LAPD employee relations.